滅多(めった)に〜ないHardly, Rarely, Seldom

Both めったに〜ない and あまり〜ない are used to qualify negative expressions, but differ in nuance. めったに〜ない means 'rarely' or 'almost never' and focuses on frequency, e.g. めったに行かない ('I rarely go.'). あまり〜ない is less strong, e.g. あまり行かない ('I don't go often.'). It can also qualify a degree or amount, e.g. あまり寒くない ('It's not very cold.'), while めったに cannot.

めったに〜ない and ほとんど can be used similarly, but with key differences. めったに〜ない means 'rarely', much like ほとんど with a negative verb. For example, めったに行かない ('I rarely go.') and ほとんど行かない ('I almost never go.') are close, though めったに suggests even lower frequency. Unlike めったに, ほとんど can also be positive, as in ほとんどみんな 'almost everyone'

Both ろくに〜ない and めったに〜ない express the idea of scarcity, but differ in nuance and context. めったに〜ない refers to the rarity of an action or event, e.g. 'めったに外出しない' ('rarely go out'). ろくに〜ない emphasizes inadequacy or insufficiency, often judging something as not measuring up, e.g. 'ろくに話せない' ('barely able to speak').

めったに〜ない and なかなか〜ない both express rarity, but with different nuance. めったに〜ない means something rarely happens and carries a neutral or negative tone. なかなか〜ない, while also indicating rarity, emphasizes difficulty or persistence, often despite effort. It suggests that the situation is hard to bring about, rather than simply uncommon.